D'angelo Russell

[reanimator]

Oh yeah they might be the worst team in the conference without him. They have a 6-4 190 PF.

Ja'Sean Tate is a hell of a player and has a bright future.

I assure you his supporting cast is better than what you would find at Rutgers, Penn St and Michigan. Its not awesome but it isn't dragging him down where as productivity is concerned.

Outside of Tate the supporting cast is brutal..Without Russel that's a god awful offense..

Thats a function of coaching, not the actual roster.

Beilein (whose evaluation of offensive talents that I highly value) offered 3/4 of OSU's roster as primary options and put those same pieces in his offense, and they would be far more productive. That team is littered with top 50 guys, seniors, athletes, length...quite a few coaches in the B1G would be drooling to coach and develop that roster. Quite laughable to claim a UM team with 6 freshman (only 1 in the top 200 composite HS rankings), 6'7'' center Max Bielfeldt and a D3 transfer is better.

[Marcus]

Watching him against Arizona right now.

Obvious concerns are strength and athleticism.

In addition, his off-ball defense looks shaky

they ran zone most of the game he was where he was supposed to be outside of leaving York on the wing which I think is when Matta should have taken them out of the zone.

[Marcus]

Now that the season is over for D. Russ. We now wait to see if he declares or not.

[EricAnderson]

Ja'Sean Tate is a hell of a player and has a bright future.

I assure you his supporting cast is better than what you would find at Rutgers, Penn St and Michigan. Its not awesome but it isn't dragging him down where as productivity is concerned.

Outside of Tate the supporting cast is brutal..Without Russel that's a god awful offense..

Thats a function of coaching, not the actual roster.

Beilein (whose evaluation of offensive talents that I highly value) offered 3/4 of OSU's roster as primary options and put those same pieces in his offense, and they would be far more productive. That team is littered with top 50 guys, seniors, athletes, length...quite a few coaches in the B1G would be drooling to coach and develop that roster. Quite laughable to claim a UM team with 6 freshman (only 1 in the top 200 composite HS rankings), 6'7'' center Max Bielfeldt and a D3 transfer is better.

I'm a Belein fan I'm not disagreeing with you on him I just think regardless of stars or rankings I don't see much talent as osu

Those guys can't put the ball in the basket

[DaddyCool19]

Now that the season is over for D. Russ. We now wait to see if he declares or not.

He would be stupid to not declare.

He is a Top 4 lock if you look at the mocks.

[ZUDAMAGIC]

I pray he stays back another year.

[Marcus]

I pray he stays back another year.

you and MPrice25

[Wonderllama]

Now that the season is over for D. Russ. We now wait to see if he declares or not.

He would be stupid to not declare.

He is a Top 4 lock if you look at the mocks.

Not only that, but there's a pretty good chance both New York and LA get top 4 picks. I'd be excited as hell to get to play and live in one of those cities.

[cksdayoff]

The seniors on that Ohio St team are ass. Shannon Scott and Sam Thompson are strictly average. Those guys needed to step up but most of us knew they wouldn't. Only way the Buckeyes would make it into the Final 4 is if Russell averaged over 30 a game. They have no post presence whatsoever, and they had to rely on freshmen such as Loving, Bates Diop and Tate to help them win games. Loving is pretty bad, can't dribble and looks like a deer in headlights the second a defender gets in his face.

If the Buckeyes had any competent shooters on that team, they would've been up by at least 5 or 6 points at halftime. York broke the game open because he was wide open 4 or 5 times behind the 3 point line in the second half.

[TyCobb]

OSU's gameplan was to live by Russell and die by Russell, and that's exactly what happened.

[reanimator]

The seniors on that Ohio St team are ass. Shannon Scott and Sam Thompson are strictly average. Those guys needed to step up but most of us knew they wouldn't. Only way the Buckeyes would make it into the Final 4 is if Russell averaged over 30 a game. They have no post presence whatsoever, and they had to rely on freshmen such as Loving, Bates Diop and Tate to help them win games. Loving is pretty bad, can't dribble and looks like a deer in headlights the second a defender gets in his face.

If the Buckeyes had any competent shooters on that team, they would've been up by at least 5 or 6 points at halftime. York broke the game open because he was wide open 4 or 5 times behind the 3 point line in the second half.

Loving is a sophomore. He, Williams, KDP and Russell are all " competent shooters." 3/4 of the B1G would take Shannon Scott over their pg. Matta simply sucks at fit and development, plus he has never been offensively inclined.

[No-Man]

OSU had a better supporting casts than many teams, they have 10 legit guys, with a real coach they would have been much better.

[ZUDAMAGIC]

I pray he stays back another year.

you and MPrice25

Dont know Mprice25 .. DLO is ready for the NBA .. I want him to stay for ohio state reasons lol

[freelancegenius]

Russell reminds me in some ways of Brandon Roy, many in fact.

Not an overwhelming athlete, a seeming "jack of all trades, master of none" type of prospect.

His court awareness and basketball maturity combine to make him a player that is wise beyond his years.

From a historical perspective, however, combo guards like Russell who exert nominal effort on defense and score at an average efficiency are only valuable up to a point. Even in today's league that rewards and even inflates guard play, bigs STILL rule the day (3-5). No matter the era, if your lead guard doesn't show All-NBA defense potential and doesn't dominate in any one fundamental way, it's very difficult to build a winner.

I predict, though, that he'll win ROY. He has all the requisite tools to be an immediate impact player. Unlike Roy, unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be a true 6-5, which will definitely hamper his ability to match up. Roy was able to guard and even body up a Kobe Bryant; I can't foresee Russell carrying his "weight" around to that extent.

[JB2]

Russell reminds me in some ways of Brandon Roy, many in fact.

Not an overwhelming athlete, a seeming "jack of all trades, master of none" type of prospect.

His court awareness and basketball maturity combine to make him a player that is wise beyond his years.

From a historical perspective, however, combo guards like Russell who exert nominal effort on defense and score at an average efficiency are only valuable up to a point. Even in today's league that rewards and even inflates guard play, bigs STILL rule the day (3-5). No matter the era, if your lead guard doesn't show All-NBA defense potential and doesn't dominate in any one fundamental way, it's very difficult to build a winner.

I predict, though, that he'll win ROY. He has all the requisite tools to be an immediate impact player. Unlike Roy, unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be a true 6-5, which will definitely hamper his ability to match up. Roy was able to guard and even body up a Kobe Bryant; I can't foresee Russell carrying his "weight" around to that extent.

So would you take Mudiay instead?

[freelancegenius]

Russell reminds me in some ways of Brandon Roy, many in fact.

Not an overwhelming athlete, a seeming "jack of all trades, master of none" type of prospect.

His court awareness and basketball maturity combine to make him a player that is wise beyond his years.

From a historical perspective, however, combo guards like Russell who exert nominal effort on defense and score at an average efficiency are only valuable up to a point. Even in today's league that rewards and even inflates guard play, bigs STILL rule the day (3-5). No matter the era, if your lead guard doesn't show All-NBA defense potential and doesn't dominate in any one fundamental way, it's very difficult to build a winner.

I predict, though, that he'll win ROY. He has all the requisite tools to be an immediate impact player. Unlike Roy, unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be a true 6-5, which will definitely hamper his ability to match up. Roy was able to guard and even body up a Kobe Bryant; I can't foresee Russell carrying his "weight" around to that extent.

So would you take Mudiay instead?

As a basketball purist, I'd take neither, but would probably prefer the heady combo guard in Russell due to the fact that he's a far, far more known commodity.

[JB2]

Russell reminds me in some ways of Brandon Roy, many in fact.

Not an overwhelming athlete, a seeming "jack of all trades, master of none" type of prospect.

His court awareness and basketball maturity combine to make him a player that is wise beyond his years.

From a historical perspective, however, combo guards like Russell who exert nominal effort on defense and score at an average efficiency are only valuable up to a point. Even in today's league that rewards and even inflates guard play, bigs STILL rule the day (3-5). No matter the era, if your lead guard doesn't show All-NBA defense potential and doesn't dominate in any one fundamental way, it's very difficult to build a winner.

I predict, though, that he'll win ROY. He has all the requisite tools to be an immediate impact player. Unlike Roy, unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be a true 6-5, which will definitely hamper his ability to match up. Roy was able to guard and even body up a Kobe Bryant; I can't foresee Russell carrying his "weight" around to that extent.

So would you take Mudiay instead?

As a basketball purist, I'd take neither, but would probably prefer the heady combo guard in Russell due to the fact that he's a far, far more known commodity.

Just asking because you are apparently not so high on Okafor either so who is it in this draft (and last) that sounds out as prospects?

[Marcus]

anybody know what freelancegenius got banned for?

edit: nevermind viewtopic.php?f=64&t=1348682&p=43106913#p43106913

im guessiing from what he said in that Westbrook thread.

[richboy]

Russell reminds me in some ways of Brandon Roy, many in fact.

Not an overwhelming athlete, a seeming "jack of all trades, master of none" type of prospect.

His court awareness and basketball maturity combine to make him a player that is wise beyond his years.

From a historical perspective, however, combo guards like Russell who exert nominal effort on defense and score at an average efficiency are only valuable up to a point. Even in today's league that rewards and even inflates guard play, bigs STILL rule the day (3-5). No matter the era, if your lead guard doesn't show All-NBA defense potential and doesn't dominate in any one fundamental way, it's very difficult to build a winner.

I predict, though, that he'll win ROY. He has all the requisite tools to be an immediate impact player. Unlike Roy, unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be a true 6-5, which will definitely hamper his ability to match up. Roy was able to guard and even body up a Kobe Bryant; I can't foresee Russell carrying his "weight" around to that extent.

Big statement to say "jack of all trades, master of none" when talking about a freshman. Not sure many freshman are masters of anything this early.

[orlandomanic]

Russell could be another Step Curry. His middle could be Kevin Martin, and his floor could be bust.

Like Curry, Russell is just an average athlete with above average to good handles with insane shooting and just like Curry, he loves pull up 3s. If his handles don't carry over to the NBA, he could be another Kevin Martin, a 20ppg scorer on a bad team.